Updated plans for a badger cull in west Wales were unveiled today after a previous attempt was quashed by the Court of Appeal.

The Welsh Assembly Government is consulting on an order to cull badgers as part of a programme to eradicate TB from cattle.

The Court of Appeal ruled in July that an earlier order, which applied to the whole of Wales, was unlawful.

The new order will only cover the area of north Pembrokeshire and neighbouring parts of Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion where the cull will be carried out. Stricter controls on cattle have also been introduced.

The UK Government last week proposed allowing groups of farmers and landowners in England to apply for licences to cull badgers in their areas, if they meet conditions to ensure it is effective and humane.

But the Assembly Government will use contractors to carry out the cull. Although more expensive, it said its “Government-led approach” was necessary to make sure contractors and officials can get on to all land in the area targeted.

Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones said vaccinating badgers had not yet been proved to cut TB in cattle.

She said: “I will state again that the cost of this disease in the last 10 years, when nearly 100,000 cattle have been slaughtered in Wales, is more than £120 million.

“This is taxpayers’ money the Assembly Government has paid out to farmers in compensation.

“Most experts agree that badgers play an important role in the transmission of bovine TB and that we will not eradicate TB if we do not tackle the disease in both wildlife and cattle.”

She added: “Our critics claim that vaccination of badgers is the answer.

“Vaccination of badgers has not yet been proved to reduce cattle TB and does not cure badgers that already have TB.

“It does not provide complete protection; rather it reduces the progress of the disease in a vaccinated badger and the risk of onward spread of infection to other badgers and cattle.

“Vaccination cannot resolve this problem on its own.

“I am satisfied that in the Intensive Action Area there is no reasonably practicable or satisfactory alternative to culling badgers as a means of reducing TB in cattle. This is because it is the only proven method currently available to me.”

The Assembly Government said the substance of its plans had not changed, but the fresh legislation clearly defined the area involved.

It said officials spent a lot of time studying what the judges said in the Badger Trust’s successful legal challenge to the first order.

At least half the badgers in the intensive action area – about 1,400 animals from an estimated Welsh population of 35,000 – will be culled over five years.

The Assembly Government expects to see TB in cattle cut by 22%, preventing TB breakdowns in 83 herds, after a cull and post-cull period of 10 years.

But it said that was a conservative estimate and additional controls on cattle would lead to a further fall in the disease.

A final decision on when to start culling has not been taken, but it will not begin before May next year.

Farmers’ Union of Wales spokesman Brian Walters said: "Today’s announcement is an important step towards addressing the epidemic in north Pembrokeshire, which has cost the lives of thousands of cattle in that area alone over the past couple of years, and causes overwhelming suffering and trauma for animals and families."

NFU Cymru deputy president Stephen James said: "Let us be clear, this programme is about eradicating the disease, not eradicating badgers, and to achieve our goal of healthy cattle and healthy wildlife we must be able to tackle the disease in both populations."

A Badger Trust spokesman said: ``It is a desperate attempt to stand up a failed policy.

"What we did was to go to court, we got a decision and it’s up to Elin Jones to make up her mind on what she wanted to do.

"Now that she has done it, we will have to consider our position."

He said the Trust would not comment on the possibility of further legal challenges.

"Both Wales and England, we are not saying anything about the law whatsoever," he said.

The Trust was "concerned that still this rash, reckless policy is being pursued and that farmers – this is the case in England – are being asked to pay for the proposed badger culling which will be to their own disadvantage".

The RSPCA said it was very concerned that the Assembly Government re-committed to a cull.

In a statement it said: "We have always been firmly opposed to the proposed cull in Wales as we believe that vaccination, increased levels of testing, improved biosecurity and stricter controls on the movement of cattle are more sustainable and effective ways of reducing the incidence of bovine TB in cattle.

"We will be looking at the consultation in detail and considering a response.

"We urge members of the public to express their views by contacting their assembly members."